"He's too young to put in a hotel room but he's not too young to bump off a flight and leave laying in the international airport on his own," Truelove said...
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.3695893
Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
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Bajan Pilot
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Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
Might be better posted in the General Comments forum?
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
"there was no indication on the booking file that the passenger was 15 years old, but Truelove said Levy's stepmother had written on his ticket that he was a minor."
So the parents did not pay to have him taken care of as a minor and the parents did not use the cell phone he had to help him arrange something. Why is always somebody else fault? Sounds like the parents should have helped out their son while he was travelling either by paying to have him taken care of or helping out when he needed help?
The $400 or whatever is standard practice and you certainly don't have to ask for it. Usually they hand out the vouchers and hotel vouchers at the same time. Did he even go to the counter? He would have been given a hotel voucher and I doubt the air canada person would have refused him a voucher although the hotel may have complained when he arrived.
Seems like parental screw up here. This kind of thing is normal in travel and either you are adult enough to deal with it when it happens or you need to pay for some help.
Also why the floor? There are plenty of chairs that you can sleep laying down on? Honestly...
So the parents did not pay to have him taken care of as a minor and the parents did not use the cell phone he had to help him arrange something. Why is always somebody else fault? Sounds like the parents should have helped out their son while he was travelling either by paying to have him taken care of or helping out when he needed help?
The $400 or whatever is standard practice and you certainly don't have to ask for it. Usually they hand out the vouchers and hotel vouchers at the same time. Did he even go to the counter? He would have been given a hotel voucher and I doubt the air canada person would have refused him a voucher although the hotel may have complained when he arrived.
Seems like parental screw up here. This kind of thing is normal in travel and either you are adult enough to deal with it when it happens or you need to pay for some help.
Also why the floor? There are plenty of chairs that you can sleep laying down on? Honestly...
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
Another news article about how someone is "so hard done by" thanks to AC. Don't be cheap, crappy parents. Pay for your kids safety. Losers.
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
As per the article:
"Air Canada offers an unaccompanied-minor service for a fee of $100 plus tax, where staff will escort children and young people from the check-in area to their destination. It is mandatory for children aged eight to 11, and optional for youth aged 12 to 17. It is only available on nonstop flights."
Does AC offer non stop from Winnipeg to Halifax?
"Air Canada offers an unaccompanied-minor service for a fee of $100 plus tax, where staff will escort children and young people from the check-in area to their destination. It is mandatory for children aged eight to 11, and optional for youth aged 12 to 17. It is only available on nonstop flights."
Does AC offer non stop from Winnipeg to Halifax?
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
"Does AC offer non stop from Winnipeg to Halifax?"
The parents are fully to blame as far as I'm concerned and frankly if I were Air Canada i'd be angry at the media and the parents attacking them and damaging their business.
1 - They did not give the child any cash so the only money for food was from Air Canada voucher. Who in their right mind travels 1/2 way across the country with no cash. That has to be a lie either by the parents or the media. Either that or the parents should be ashamed not providing any cash for contingencies.
2 - The parents did not think to use their phone to call a local hotel and book it with their credit card for the kid?
Most likely a hotel will reject a kid without a credit card because they care about incidental expenses etc. which need to be guaranteed with a card. A call from the parent to a hotel manager would no doubt have solved the problem. Air Canada does not book hotels, they give you a voucher which the hotel takes and then take your card to guaranteed mini bar/damage etc. if the kid had gone to the counter he would have got a voucher for hotel and food like everybody else.
3- The parents if they were really concerned could have had him accompanied but it would have cost more than $100 since Air Canada does not offer the service with a stop over. Yeah its expensive .. likely they did not want to cover the cost but want others to babysit.
4 - The kid slept on the floor at the airport .. really. I've been stuck many times at airports all over the world and I've never had to sleep on the floor, you curl up in a chair or on a bench. So that's very likely an outright lie. Also getting stuck at 1am and having to wait until the next morning is nothing in the way of a mid flight interruption. So you get tired .. get over it.
This sort of story really annoys me. The media and some of the general public go out of their way to attack a company without looking at the other side. Where is the media asking about the parent's responsibilities.. oh right that does not sell.
Air Canada is not perfect but most of their employees try to do a decent job most of the time and the occasional glitch for weather or mechanicals seems to have some of the travelling public going for blood. Its ridiculous and Air Canada should stand up for itself and the media should present facts on both sides not just look for a negative story to sell.
The parents are fully to blame as far as I'm concerned and frankly if I were Air Canada i'd be angry at the media and the parents attacking them and damaging their business.
1 - They did not give the child any cash so the only money for food was from Air Canada voucher. Who in their right mind travels 1/2 way across the country with no cash. That has to be a lie either by the parents or the media. Either that or the parents should be ashamed not providing any cash for contingencies.
2 - The parents did not think to use their phone to call a local hotel and book it with their credit card for the kid?
Most likely a hotel will reject a kid without a credit card because they care about incidental expenses etc. which need to be guaranteed with a card. A call from the parent to a hotel manager would no doubt have solved the problem. Air Canada does not book hotels, they give you a voucher which the hotel takes and then take your card to guaranteed mini bar/damage etc. if the kid had gone to the counter he would have got a voucher for hotel and food like everybody else.
3- The parents if they were really concerned could have had him accompanied but it would have cost more than $100 since Air Canada does not offer the service with a stop over. Yeah its expensive .. likely they did not want to cover the cost but want others to babysit.
4 - The kid slept on the floor at the airport .. really. I've been stuck many times at airports all over the world and I've never had to sleep on the floor, you curl up in a chair or on a bench. So that's very likely an outright lie. Also getting stuck at 1am and having to wait until the next morning is nothing in the way of a mid flight interruption. So you get tired .. get over it.
This sort of story really annoys me. The media and some of the general public go out of their way to attack a company without looking at the other side. Where is the media asking about the parent's responsibilities.. oh right that does not sell.
Air Canada is not perfect but most of their employees try to do a decent job most of the time and the occasional glitch for weather or mechanicals seems to have some of the travelling public going for blood. Its ridiculous and Air Canada should stand up for itself and the media should present facts on both sides not just look for a negative story to sell.
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SuperchargedRS
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Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
Who cares?
I've slept on airport floors before, heck kid will probably wake up more refreshed than an adult, I don't see the BFD.
I've slept on airport floors before, heck kid will probably wake up more refreshed than an adult, I don't see the BFD.
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
I agree with everything you said.cgzro wrote:This sort of story really annoys me. The media and some of the general public go out of their way to attack a company without looking at the other side. Where is the media asking about the parent's responsibilities.. oh right that does not sell.
And I too am annoyed at how much flack the media gives AC. With the amount of losers complaining about AC, I'm surprised that there have only ever been six incidents with them and me over the last twenty-six years as a passenger. I have yet to come across a rude agent. Too much negativity from the public.
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Old fella
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Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
What is amusing about this isn't what is posted here but the commentary on the media(CBC) sites from the general public. Blaming it all on Harper/ Trudeau and everything in between, some of the postings from the joe slob public is down right hilarious. Not forgetting the " hate-on" for all things AC.
As I commented to a local AC basher, airlines are not daycare/ babysitting/school escort services , they provide transportation services point A to B requiring payment for their duties in circumstances they see fit. The parents of this 15 yr old unescorted traveller leave a lot to comment about on their parenting skills........ nuff said.
As I commented to a local AC basher, airlines are not daycare/ babysitting/school escort services , they provide transportation services point A to B requiring payment for their duties in circumstances they see fit. The parents of this 15 yr old unescorted traveller leave a lot to comment about on their parenting skills........ nuff said.
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
Pretty sure every 15 year old kid I know/knew/was myself could have easily handled a night in an airport alone. Hell, I flew to France when I was 16 alone. Had multiple lay overs.
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
I love the person that decided to put armrests on all the seats at the Denver airport so that you can't lay down on them
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all_ramped_up
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Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
Right? I was 16 when my Father let me roam downtown Hamburg, Germany all day by myself while he attended a conference.lazyeight wrote:Pretty sure every 15 year old kid I know/knew/was myself could have easily handled a night in an airport alone. Hell, I flew to France when I was 16 alone. Had multiple lay overs.
A 15 year old should be able to use their head and not end up on the floor.
Re: Minor left alone to sleep on airport floor overnight
My guess is that kid is really pissed at his family right now for drawing all the attention to it.
